Need advice on this...
A PC in total darkness against a Darkmantle.
The PC readies an action with the trigger "If I get attacked"What happens first, does the darkmantle hit and constrict to death or does the ready trigger comes first saving the PC?
He won't know if he is attacked if he can't see the creature. Now if the PC if the trigger is "when I take damage" that might work.
Perception check to identify the darkmantle attack before it comes. If successful, player gets an attack before darkmantle. If not, darkmantle gets to attack before the player.
Thats how I would run it. Others could very easily do it differently.
Yeah, thing is that is the PC attack goes 'after' there wouldn't be any as he would get unconscious pretty quick (did rolls already)
I had thought of the idea of perception to give the PC a chance but I cannot find an appropriate DC for the check...
What would you say is a fair DC?
-20. Invisible creatures get an automatic 20 to stealth so if the PC can't see the darkmantle it is effectively invisible.
I would just use the blinded rules:
Blinded: The creature cannot see. It takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class, loses its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), and takes a –4 penalty on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks and on opposed Perception skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Perception checks based on sight) automatically fail.
All opponents are considered to have total concealment(50% miss chance) against the blinded character. Blind creatures must make a DC 10 Acrobatics skill check to move faster than half speed. Creatures that fail this check fall prone.
So give him a -4 on perception vs the Darkmantle's "stealth" and if he hears it before it attacks, give him an attack on a concealed creature. If he doesn't hear it, then it attacks him with surprise. If he survives the attack, he should know where the darkmantle is (unless it has flyby attack or something) and can do another attack on a concealed creature. Rinse, repeat until one is dead.